κεῖμαι + μῆλον
Word
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Transliteration (Word)
English translation (word)
Transliteration (Etymon)
English translation (etymon)
Century
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Quotation
Κειμήλια, ἀπόθετα χρήματα, ὡς παρὰ τὸν θήσω μέλλοντα γίνεται θεμέλιον, οὕτω καὶ παρὰ τὸν κείσω μέλλοντα γίνεται κειμήλιον· ἢ παρὰ τὸ κεῖσθαι τὰ μήλια, δι’ ὧν τινὰ ἐκμειλισσόμεθα
Translation (En)
Keimēlia "treasures": the riches stored apart. As from the future thēsō "I will place" comes themelion "foundation", so from the future keisō "I will lie" comes keimēlion. Or from keisthai "to lie" and mēlia "sheep", through which we soften people.
Parallels
Etym. Magnum, Kallierges, p. 508 (Κειμήλια: Τὰ ἀπόθετα χρήματα. Ὡς παρὰ τὸν θήσω μέλλοντα γίνεται θεμέλιον, οὕτω καὶ παρὰ τὸν κείσω κείσομαι μέλλοντα γίνεται κειμήλιον. Ἢ παρὰ τὸ ἐκεῖ κεῖσθαι τὰ μείλια, δι’ ὧν τινὰ ἐκμειλισσόμεθα, ἤγουν τὰ χρήματα); Ps.-Zonaras, Lexicon, kappa, p. 1192 (idem [except that the word is spelled μῆλα])
Comment
The etymology is designed to account for the end of the word, which the standard explanation, analyzing κειμήλιον as a derivative of κεῖμαι, does not do. Therefore the word is parsed as a compound and the second element identified as μῆλον "sheep", which is purely paronymic. The explanation "because we soften τινά through them" refers probably to sacrifice, and the τινά refers to a god. The etymologist obviously did not care about the fact that the treasure is not where sheep lie, but he took κειμήλια in the general meaning "riches", which includes livestock. The explanation is repeated in several sources, all with a different spelling: μήλια, μείλια, μῆλα.